Following iPhone 7, iPhone 4 (& few Macs) will become vintage/obsolete, lose Apple repair support

Apple is about to add iPhone 4 alongside other Macs and iPods to its list of vintage and obsolete products, meaning the devices will lose support for repair services through Apple and its authorized dealers. The change is scheduled to kick in a week after Apple’s iPhone 7 event later this month, according to internal documents (pictured below).

Starting September 13th, the week following Apple’s iPhone 7 event scheduled for September 7th, Apple will officially add the iPhone 4 (CDMA) to vintage/obsolete status. Currently, the only iPhones to have vintage or obsolete status are the iPhone 3GS and earlier models.

Apple maintains a list of vintage and obsolete products, which are those that lose service or repair support through its own retail stores or authorized service providers. It typically begins the process for models 5-7 years after manufacturing has been discontinued. Vintage status means limited support for certain products in California and or Turkey, but otherwise there’s no distinction between vintage and obsolete for the rest of the world.

In addition to the iPhone 4 CDMA, also being added to vintage/obsolete status on the 13th is iMac (20-inch, Mid 2009), Mac mini (Mid 2010), and Mac mini Server (Mid 2010).

A few other products are moving to full obsolete status worldwide, including: iPod shuffle (2nd Generation – Late 2007), iPod shuffle (2nd generation – late 2008), iPod class (120GB), iPod touch (2nd Generation), iPod nano (4th Generation), and MacBook (13-inch, Aluminum, Late 2008).

Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 7 next week at its event scheduled for September 7th. The device is expected to include new 12 megapixel cameras with a dual-camera system on some models, higher storage capacities, and new darker color options, among other enhancements. The event could also likely play host to our first look at Apple Watch 2, new wireless headphones from Beats, and possibly new earbuds or an adapter from Apple to accompany its first iPhone expected to ditch the headphone jack.